THE Ospreys Heineken Cup dream was in tatters for the third year in a row last night, with captain Ryan Jones claiming a penalty should have saved them from a heartbreaking 29-28 defeat to Biarritz.

Wales and Ospreys skipper Jones maintained Irish referee George Clancy should have awarded a last-minute penalty to the Welsh region, insisting Biarritz scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili had offended at the side of a ruck.

In the confusion that followed, Dan Biggar went for a drop-goal but fired his attempt wide only to hear Clancy blow up for full-time rather than award a penalty.

But Jones alleged: “He (Clancy) said it was a penalty but there wasn’t time.”

His version of events was disputed by Biarritz captain Jerome Thion, who responded: “The referee did not say penalty, he only said knock-on.”

Ospreys claimed French international scrum-half Yachvili had deliberately interfered with the ball.

And coach Sean Holley also claimed his side should have been given a free shot at goal.

“To me it looked like a penalty offence,” he said.

Clancy refused to comment on the matter but television replays later suggested the official had made the correct call.

The defeat in sun-drenched San Sebastian means Wales’ hope of lifting the Heineken Cup for the first time in history has gone for another season.

“It’s pretty devastating really,” Holley added. “We weren’t clinical enough. The over-riding thought is we should have been in the semi-finals for the first time and we are not which obviously hurts us a lot.”

Jones added: “We could have taken the result at the end. We were there or thereabouts.

“One decision, one play, one error, that was all that separated these two teams. We never gave up and that's all you can ask of a group of blokes. It's tough but it's sport.”